St. Agnes School 5th grade student Catherine Staley competed in the USATF National Junior Olympic Cross Country Championships 3K race on December 9th in Talahassee, Florida. Catherine placed 12th out of a field of 323 runners in the age 9-10 bracket which puts her in the top 4% of runners in the country in her age group. Catherine improved her ranking in the nation this year by 12 places improving on her 24th place finish last year. The race was conducted under cold and damp conditions with temps only in the 40’s and the rainfall from the previous day left the field soggy and muddy but Catherine put in a time of 11:25 and earned the status of an All-American Runner.
“My goal going into the race was to be in the top 25,” reflected Staley after the race. “I was so happy when I was done and made it. I didn’t know I could go that fast!”
Earlier this season, Catherine won the women’s division of the Geneseo Trio, her overall trio time of 1:00:01 was recognized as a new Women’s Trio record.
Catherine was the top female finisher in the Oak Tree 5k, with a time of 20 minutes – good for 10th overall. For the Friday Knight 5k, her time was 20 minutes, 9 seconds. She finished the Ramon Rocha 5k in 19 minutes, 51 seconds, which placed her third overall in the race.
This was the second consecutive “Fastest Female” Trio title for Catherine, who ran the races 81 seconds faster than last year. She also finished as the second overall “Fastest Female” in the 2015 Trio races.
Catherine also won the St. Agnes School Race to Educate 5K this past September.
